GNOMEO AND JULIET
Release date: May 24, 2011
Blu-ray version (some materials may not appear on the DVD version)

Come a-lawn and I’ll tell you all about the new Blu-ray of “Gnomeo and Juliet.”

This film lightly retells the classic story of “Romeo and Juliet,” this time taking place in the world of garden/lawn gnomes. Quite popular in Britain, legend has it that these dwarf-like gnomes help protect gardens and lawns from evil sorcery.

In a “Toy Story”-esque manner, when the humans aren’t around these gnomes come to life to live in a world of their own, giving them the chance to play, have lawnmower races and fall in love.

As in the original tale, these gnomes are caught up in a feud, this time between neighbors consisting of the red gnomes and the blue gnomes. The title red and blue gnomes must overcome many obstacles, but luckily for them, they’ve got the help of Featherton, a flamboyant pink flamingo.

Elton John brings the music to the movie with some original songs and full new versions of a couple of his classic hits. Listening closely to the film score, Elton fans are sure to hear bits and pieces that pay homage to many of his popular tunes.

For anyone even vaguely familiar with the original Shakespeare version of “Romeo and Juliet,” there are plenty of fun references along the way.

Here’s what you’ll find in the BOGNUS FEATURES:

The CROCODILE ROCK MUSIC VIDEO features Nelly Furtado and Elton John in this updated version of Elton’s classic song.

ELTON BUILDS A GARDEN (5:47) focuses on Elton John’s integral involvement in the film’s creation. This piece is packed with plenty of snippets of behind-the-scenes footage such as voice recording and orchestra sessions, mixed in with some background about how the film initially came to be.

There are two ALTERNATE ENDING WITH FILMMAKER INTRODUCTIONS (4:05), each about a minute and a half set to story reel artwork. These are not story driven scenes, but the musical finale. The second is particularly humorous, complete with a Hollywood Bowl, an aquacade and a follow-the-bouncing-ball.

The DELETED AND ALTERNATE SCENES FILMMAKER INTRODUCTIONS (42:23) are all in the early story reel stage. There’s a whopping 42 minutes of materials here, and they really are quite entertaining to see! These include an entirely different opening, one scene has a quite opposing feel to the final film, and it’s fun to see some of the early character attempts.

all in the early temporary story reel stage which reveal . The first is a completely different opening to the film. (4:09) The second (2:29) features Featherstone playing a game with Gnomeo as he agonizes over his newfound fondness for Juliet. For me, it was particularly fun to see all the references to classic games including Twister, Clue, Life and a bunch more. The last scene (5:00) is the introduction of Featherstone. Quite humorous, it’s fun to see how drastically different the flamingo character turned out.

FROG TALK WITH ASHLEY JENSEN (1:46) THE FAWN OF DARKNESS (1:29) each feature a fast paced look at what went into recording of two roles in the film. Although less than two minutes, there’s some great recording session footage with commentary footage of the voice talent, Ashley Jensen as Nanette the frog and rocker Ozzy Osbourne as Fawn the deer.

Hope this helped you to gnow what’s on this Blu-ray so you have to wonder gnome more.